


Ready. Aim. Fire!

by lha



Series: Gabriel Lorca: Child-whisperer [5]
Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Children, F/M, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Paternal Lorca, Snow, Toddler, tactics - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 07:56:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13829838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lha/pseuds/lha
Summary: Gabriel once again finds himself in charge of other people's children only this time they're a little older, there are far more of them and it's been snowing.





	Ready. Aim. Fire!

**Author's Note:**

> Once again due to a tweet - 
> 
> https://twitter.com/Vintage1983V/status/968813304868110336

“Right Daisy,” Gabriel said as he pushed the last boot onto the youngest of the gathered brood and the ten year old looked up by her place by the door, “let’s go.” There were squeals and shrieks of all ages as they piled out into the ample garden of the Stamets-Cluber residence and only one of the kids seemed to end up face down in the snow. They picked themselves up though and carried on as though nothing had happened.

“Ga! Ga! Ga!” the young boy still sitting on the stairs protested. Tilly’s youngest (for now, the rest of the adults seemed to be thoroughly happy gushing over the announcement of her conceiving yet again) held his arms up looking quite cross at having been forgotten.

“Yes, sir,” he said capturing him under his arms and swinging him up towards the ceiling. There was a peal of childish laughter and then an impatient call from outside. Mark wasn’t quite two and while he could walk and was determined to be part of all the excitement, was not entirely sure about the white stuff on the ground outside. Gabriel carried him outside and when the obvious delight of the others was enough to convince Mark to start wriggling to be let down, Gabriel released him. His leg was gripped for a moment or two before the small snowsuited boy took off like a slightly inelegant baby hippo to join the others. 

Even in their brightly coloured outdoor wear, Gabriel realised he should perhaps have counted how many of them there were before he had released them into the wild. Taking the chance, he fastened his own expedition jacket, and tried to remember who it was he was supposed to be in charge of. There was Daisy, who looked exactly like Hugh Culber but had her other father’s mannerisms and dry humour and her younger sister Jess who was… he eventually spotter her covertly climbing a tree and about to shake a branch over her sister’s head. Burnam’s twins were currently chasing each other in circles trying to put snow down each others backs, and their little sister was making snow angels with Tilly’s eldest. Mark had found his elder… cousins? They had red hair as well so presumably they were related and they were… oh.

The snowball was poorly compacted and their aim was off centre but it did catch him on his chest. The children seemed to have sensed what had happened and had all stopped to turned and look at him. All that was, apart from the cousins who had turned tail and run full pelt around the side of the house giggling like maniacs. Mark, who had attempted to follow, fell over his own feet and sinking face down into the snow started crying and thrashing. 

“Back here on the double!” Gabriel called, only realising after the fact that pulling rank on his former crew member’s children was unlikely to end well. Plucking Mark out of the snow, he soon had a cold dripping nose pressed into his neck as small hands clung on to him for grimm death. After several seconds of silence the three of them seemed to think better of it and rather sheepishly reappeared. He gestured for them to come closer, and the eldest, a girl of maybe twelve, took a slightly defensive position in front of her brothers.

“Sorry Admiral,” she said, her head held high much like a young Ensign he remembered meeting shortly after she’d gotten her comision, “it was my idea.”

“Well,” he said seriously, moving the snuffling toddler onto his hip so he could see them better. “Your tactics were sound, I didn’t see it coming until it was too late - that’s a perfect sneak attack. If your projectile had held together better you would have got a better aim and a more satisfactory hit though.” He saw them relax and wondered what it said about him that they’d actually thought he’d be cross at them. Crouching down, trying not to squash Mark’s leg and also keeping his balance he used his one hand to gather up some snow. “Now,” he began, looking up only to find that his audience had expanded to include the entire group. “What you need to do is find the wetter snow because it sticks together better. Right Mark hold on,” small arms wrapped around him and he carefully pulled his other arm free, “take your lump of snow and then roll it between your palms like this, pressing a little harder each time. No, leave your gloves on Jess,” he said as she started pulling hers off, “I just don’t have a Papa to make sure mine are in my pocket.” This seemed to amuse them. Mark offered him a soggy mitten that had already half come off his hand. “Thank you, but I think you better keep that,” he said pulling it back on to the child’s hand with a careful tug. 

Standing back up, with a groan he wouldn’t have made twenty years ago and Mark still clinging on, he watched as the rest of the children started carefully constructing their snowballs. 

“Who should we throw them at?” one of the twins asked, his excitement barely contained but obviously trying emulate the cool calm of his grandfather.

“Can we have a battle?” the other one asked.

“How about an ambush?” Gabriel suggested. 

“What’s a ambus?” their little sister asked.

“That’s when you hide behind something and then jump out and attack your enemy!” said one of the cousins. “Isn’t it?” he asked turning to Gabriel.

“Spot on. If we piled up some of the snow, over there,” he pointed out a natural rise behind which he hoped they’d all fit, “we could surprise whoever came out of the door.”

“I could go in and tell all our Papas and Dads and Mums that they have to come out and see what we’ve made,” Daisy said.

“And then we attack!” This seemed to meet with general approval, although when Gabriel tried to Mark down on the ground he made it quite clear he had no intention of letting go. 

Thirty minutes later and they had entrenched themselves behind their mound with a large pile of snowballs for each child and a lot of giggling that was not being very successfully smothered. 

“Remember, we need to let them all get out of the house and leave time for Daisy to close the door behind them before we launch. I’ll give you a signal.” There was a series of eager nods in response to these orders. Gabriel lent around the side of their defence, stifling a grunt as Mark’s kneed caught him in the side as he too tried to see what was going on. “Ready,” he whispered as the adults started filling out into the garden, “Aim,” he said, waiting for Daisy to shut the door. “Fire!”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it's tooth rotting nonsense but I hope you enjoyed!  
> I'd love to hear your thoughts here or on twitter @LHA_again  
> Lx


End file.
